Christian Louboutin protagonist in courtrooms, where he protects his name and his quality, and in art galleries. The famous French brand and its founder are at the centre of the scenes for two different reasons: an important legal battle against e-commerce giant Amazon and a Parisian exhibition dedicated to the creativity that inspired those famous red soles.
Brand protection
Amazon will no longer be able to advertise Louboutin shoes without the designer’s consent. To establish it is a summer sentence of the Court of the Enterprise of Brussels, before which the two companies were summoned. Everything started from the brand’s signal regarding the presence on both French and German editions of the e-commerce portal of a hundred or so advertisements concerning their shoes with the iconic red sole, but counterfeits. Hence the decision of the brand to appeal to Court, whose judges substantially accepted the thesis of Louboutin’s lawyers, according to whom the advertisements in question would promote not only those shoes without the consent of the original manufacturer, but through them also the portal itself. For these reasons, Amazon was forbidden to promote the brand again without the go-ahead, otherwise it would risk a fine of 50,000 euros per day, up to a maximum of 50 million euros.
In the spotlight
According to many, the designer’s shoes are real works of art. An idea that will be confirmed in 2020 as the Palais de la Porte Dorée in Paris will host an exhibition dedicated to Christian Louboutin’s creativity. The exhibition, entitled “Christian Louboutin: l’expositiòn” will last 5 months, from February 25th to July 26th, and will be curated by Olivier Gabet, director of the Musée des Arts Décoratifs. The lights of the prestigious French building will illuminate a series of carefully selected models and will also unveil new collaborations with other protagonists of the world of art and culture, such as director David Lynch and New Zealand artist Lisa Reihana.
